Sick
by thebonron
Summary: Dean gets sick and tries to hide it from John. John finds out eventually, though... through Sammy. Weechester and nice!John


Twelve year-old Dean stood waiting by Sam's classroom. He always picked his little brother up after school and the two of them walked home together. Well, wherever _home _was at the moment, anyways.

Sam came out of the classroom, looking happy.

"Look, Dean," he said, pointing at a piece of paper. "I got twenty out of twenty on the spelling test. Mrs. Goldman even gave me a new book for getting the best score in the whole class."

"That's great, Sam," Dean said, trying hard to work up a smile. "_The Outsiders_ is a good book."

"What's wrong, Dean?" Sam asked, seeing through Dean's facade right away. "Bad day at school?"

"No, that's not it. I'm just feeling kind of sick, that's all."

"How sick?" Sam eyed his brother skeptically. Dean had a habit of hiding how he was feeling from everybody else.

"My head's spinning, I'm feeling chills and I have a constant urge to puke. That just about sums it up."

"Geez, Dean," Sam said. "You should tell Dad."

"No!" Dean burst out suddenly. "Don't tell Dad!"

"Why not?" Sam asked, surprised at the intensity of Dean's reaction.

"I just don't want to, that's all. There's no reason for Dad to know. He already thinks I'm a little kid."

"No, he doesn't, Dean. He lets you do way more stuff than me."

"Yeah, well, I still don't want to get him involved in this. It's probably nothing."

"Well, okay," Sam said uncertainly. "I won't say anything."

"Good," Dean nodded and the two of them walked home together.

Once they got home, they were greeted by John, who was sitting at the small wooden desk in the corner of the room.

"Hello, boys," he said. "I have to leave soon for a hunt. Dean, I expect you to make you and Sam some dinner and clean up afterwards. I also want you to do the laundry and clean the bathroom. After that, you can get a head start on your homework. But don't stay up too late, you hear?"

"Da-ad," Dean complained. His head was spinning and the only he wanted to do right now was climb into bed and try to fall asleep with the sound of pounding in his ears. The last thing he wanted to do was do chores. "I'm not feeling well."

"Jonathan Dean. I told you what I need you to do and I am not going to repeat myself. When I get back tomorrow morning, the chores had better be done. Are we clear here?"

"Fine," Dean said quietly, looking down at his feet. Sam wouldn't have agreed so quickly, but Dean was always so obedient.

"Dad, do you have to go?" Sam suddenly asked. John sighed.

"Samuel, we talked about this. My hunts are not negotiable."

"But can't you stay home just this once? I don't want you to leave and neither does Dean..."

"Samuel," John said again. "I'd stay if I could. But this hunt's important."

"But Da-ad, Dean's..."

"Sammy, leave it alone. Dad said he has to go, so he has to go," Dean spoke up. The last thing he wanted was for Sammy to tell John that he wasn't feeling well.

"Fine," Sammy grumbled. "But this isn't fair."

"Of course it isn't," John agreed. "You think I chose this life? Anyways, I'm not leaving for another couple of hours, so Dean, I want you to get started on the bathroom."

"What now?" Dean asked. "But I just got home from school!"

"Dean, what did I tell you about talking back?"

"Fine," Dean repeated himself and started walking towards the bathroom. "I'll get on it."

"Dad," Sam said as soon as Dean was out of earshot. "You're not being fair."

"Sammy, you're not starting that again, are you? I already told you, I have to go."

"I'm not talking about _that _Dad. I mean, making Dean do all this work."

"Sammy, those are Dean's regular chores. I expect them to be done. But if you're feeling so bad for your brother, you can be the one that helps him out."

"Dad, he's not feeling well! Can't you see that?"

"What do you mean, he's not feeling well? He didn't say anything about it."

"Yeah, cause he doesn't want to make you mad! You always shrug it off like it's no big deal or you yell at him for talking back. Of course he's not going to tell you anything!"

"Watch it, Samuel."

"I don't care! You're always so busy with your stupid hunts to pay any attention to me and Dean! But if you must know, Dean's really sick right now. His head is spinning and his stomach hurts and you're just making him do more work!"

"Easy, Sammy," John suddenly said. "Dean's really sick, huh?"

"Yeah..." Sam said wearily. "He just doesn't want you to know it."

"Is that why you didn't want me to go on that hunt? Because of Dean?"

"Why'd you think?" Sam asked. "Of course it was because of Dean."

"I'm sorry, Sammy. I've been an idiot," John said, pulling Sammy close. "I didn't see what was happening with Dean."

"I know," Sam said. "I'm not mad or anything. I just don't want you to go."

"Sammy..." John sighed, but was interrupted when a loud retching sound came from the bathroom.

John rushed there only to find Dean on his hands and knees, throwing up in the toilet.

"Son!" John said. "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry, Dad," Dean panicked. "I just got sick, I'm fine now. I'll clean it up, I promise."

"Don't be ridiculous," John said. "You're going straight to bed."

"But, the bathroom, it's not clean yet..."

"Dean, I'm sorry. I didn't know that you were sick. But you really should have said something too."

"I tried..."

"I know, son. I'm sorry for not paying more attention to you." John led Dean to his room, where he helped him get in under the covers. Dean was shivering. "It's a good thing Sammy told me."

"Sammy told you?" Dean looked at his father, outraged. "I told him not to..."

"Easy, Dean," John said, running a hand through his hair. "It's okay. It's a good thing that I found out."

"Ugh," Dean said, settling back against his pillows. "I'm going to kill that kid."

"Here, son, this will make you feel better," John said, helping Dean sit up and giving him a capsule to chew on. "It helps against colds."

"I don't have a cold," Dean said and sneezed promptly after that.

"I see," John smiled. "Why don't you try to get some sleep anyways, though. You look pretty beat."

"OK," Dean said, settling under his covers. At that moment, Sammy came into the room.

"Sammy, you're lucky I'm sick or I would have to kill you on the spot."

"Hey, in my defense, I did you a good thing. You don't have to clean anymore!"

"I guess that's true," Dean sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you Dad."

"Okay, Dean, get some rest. I'll check on you one more time before I leave."

"You're... leaving?" Dean asked, surprised. "I thought you were staying."

"Yeah, Dad," Sammy spoke up. "I thought you were going to stay."

"Well, no," John admitted. "I still have to go."

"But, Dad..." Dean said. "I don't want you to leave."

John stopped for a second. This was rare. Sammy always questioned every little thing John did, but Dean? Dean usually just accepted everything, no questions asked. He certainly never told John that he didn't want him leaving.

"Dean, son, what's wrong? Are you feeling that bad? I'll give you some medicine and you'll sleep it off. By the time you wake up, I'll be back."

"Still. I want you to stay," Dean mumbled.

John sighed. The fight was important. People's lives were on the line. But his boy was important too. And today, he needed his father.

"I'll be back in a sec," John said. "If you start to feel sick again, Dean, just holler."

With that, John went out of the room and called Bobby. He asked him to cover the hunt without him, to find someone else to take his place. Tonight, he would be staying with Dean.

John came back into the room and saw Sam sitting on Dean's bed, talking to his brother.

"I'm sorry, Dean," he said. "I didn't mean to tell Dad. I just thought he'd stay, just this once, if he found out that you were sick."

"It's okay, Sammy. It's not your fault. I was hoping he'd stay too."

"Boys," John came into the room, looking awkward. "I just got off the phone with Bobby. He's going to find someone else to do the job."

"Did something else come up?" Dean asked skeptically.

"Yes, something else did come up. My son got sick and I need to be there to take care of him," John said, looking at Dean.

"What, really?" Dean asked. "You're not kidding?"

"No, son, I'm going to stay here tonight. For once, I'm going to take care of you like I should."

John was interrupted by Dean's getting out of bed and giving him a hug. "Easy, son," John said, hugging him back. "I'm really staying. Now, get back to bed. You need to rest."

In a few seconds, they were joined by Sammy, who came over to John to give him a quick hug. "Thanks, Daddy," he whispered.

"You're welcome," he said, placing a kiss on top of Dean's head. Pretty soon, Dean was asleep, so John took Sammy's little hand and led him out of the room. The two of them went downstairs to play Monopoly.


End file.
